Savickas and Russell Repeat as All-Americans

College Station, Texas (March 24, 2001) -- For the fourth consecutive year, senior Arunas Savickas earned All-America honors while sophomore Aaron Russell picked up his second All-America citation for their respective performances at the 2001 NCAA Championships.

Savickas earned a second team All-America citation for his 14th-place finish in the 200 freestyle Friday, making him the only male swimmer in BYU history to be named All-American each his four years at BYU. He has earned six All-America citations in four trips to the NCAA Championships. A tooth infection kept Savickas out of the 500 free on Thursday, allowing him to concentrate on his two other events, the 100 and 200 free. On Saturday, he finished 46th in the 100 free, failing to advance to the finals.

"I'm excited for Arunas that he was able to be an All-American in each of the four years he was at BYU," men's swimming coach Tim Powers said.

Russell earned his second team All-America honor with a 13th-place finish on the 1-meter springboard event Thursday. He also finished 21st on the 3-meter board Friday while placing 25th in the platform event Saturday.

Heading into the final day of competition, Savickas and Russell had earned seven points for the Cougars, putting them in a 28th-place tie.